Far from being a waste of time, daydreaming might be one of the best things you can do in your free time.
Many studies have attempted to quantify the time spent daydreaming. Some, including one from Harvard, estimate that we spend 30-50% of our waking lives letting our minds wander. However, none of these works presents these mental wanderings under a positive sign. The fact is, for decades psychologists have equated daydreaming with a failure of cognitive control, detailing how it dampens task processing or our memory abilities. But not everyone agrees.
Starting with Jerome Singer, former professor at Pennsylvania State University and father of daydream research. According to him, staying in the clouds could also be good. Otherwise, why would our minds be so prone to wander there?
Unlike psychologists describing daydreaming as a waste of time, Dr. Singer was more nuanced. According to him, certain wanderings are indeed counter-productive. Let us mention those relating to painful and obsessive fantasies, those aimed at fleeing events or feelings of distress, and again those testifying to an undisciplined inability to concentrate. On the other hand, other constructive, playful and creative daydreams could be beneficial to us.
Some research today echoes these ideas proposed 70 years ago by Singer. What if we could rely on focused and playful daydreaming to improve our general well-being?
New research indeed indicates that daydreaming can inspire happiness…if you deliberately engage in it.
In a study published in the journal Emotion , the researchers sought to test the different levels of pleasure derived from thinking. During this work, participants on their own were more likely to turn to worrisome or neutral topics, ultimately exposing themselves to negative or neutral feelings after the session.
In contrast, when offered a framework guiding them to imagine something positive, such as a superpower fantasy or the memory of their first kiss, these same participants were 50% more likely to feel good after the session.
Why couldn't they orient themselves towards positive mind wandering? Erin Westgate, professor of psychology at the University of Florida and lead author of the study, points out that positive daydreaming is a much heavier lift. “ When you dream, you act as writer, director, audience and performer in a whole mental drama that is going on in your head ” , she explains. “ It’s incredibly cognitively demanding ” .
So our brains tend to wander effortlessly, even when the results are negative.
Learning to properly control your imagination would therefore be worth it. However, as Dr. Westgate's study shows, voluntary daydreaming is particularly difficult without inspiration. Cognitive flexibility and creativity peak in childhood and decline with age. That creativity is still there, but it could use some nurturing.
In this study, the researchers presented participants with a list of topics that were both pleasant and meaningful. For their part, the volunteers declared that they preferred to reflect on the basis of these examples rather than to reflect on such and such a positive event on their own.
In everyday life, we don't necessarily have examples in front of us. Also Dr. Westgate advises to make the effort, at the beginning, to imagine gratifying subjects. It could be a pleasant memory, a future accomplishment, or an event you are looking forward to. With a little practice, even the briefest mental asides can restore a sense of well-being.
